Baylor Week 2 Defensive Report Card

Baylor is 1-1 after two weeks against high-level competition, with most power conference teams having played one or even two cupcakes. While QB Sawyer Robertson garnered national media attention for his second straight 400-yard performance and led a high-octane passing attack for the Bears, the defense...let's just say the offense needed all 48 of those points. So, we'll break down each defensive position group and see how they fared against Kevin Jennings and SMU.

Defensive Line: C-

For the second straight week, the Bears surrendered a 100-yard rusher and gave up over 150 yards on the ground, though Week 2 saw the Bears cut the 307 rushing yards they gave up to Auburn nearly in half. UCLA transfer TJ Harden did have 119 yards for the Mustangs, but a third of those came on his 40-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. This defensive front showed a lot more fight than they did against Auburn, holding gaps and opening downhill gaps and lanes for the linebackers to fill, a big part of stymying big-play back Chris Johnson Jr. to only 26 yards. Especially with Jackie Marshall only seeing six snaps (although he did draw a key holding penalty in the third quarter). DK Kalu, who went down in the game and left the front even thinner, and Cooper Lanz both had above a 60 run-defense PFF grade, and while I'd like to see more pressure being generated in pass rush, there were big step taken from the Auburn game.

Linebackers: B+

After a pedestrian performance, transfer linebackers/edge rushers Matthew Fobbs-White and Emar'rion Winston responded in a big way. Keaton Thomas was his same stellar self, posting his second straight week of 10+ tackles and a tackle for loss, and leading the front seven with a 68.3 PFF grade. Both Winston and Fobbs-White registered a TFL, showing their impact in the run, while Winston was able to wrangle Kevin Jennings down for a sack. But, most importantly, they were able to consistently maintain the edge and kept Jennings from making explosive plays with his legs, holding Jennings to 16 rushing yards on 14 attempts (including sack yardage), with his longest run being 7 yards. FIU transfer Travion Barnes got a sack despite only seeing a curiously low 20 snaps, and LBs Kylan Reed and Kendrick Simpkins both registered multiple tackles. On a currently shaky defensive group as a whole, the linebacker room is emerging as a strength.

Cornerbacks: D

It seems like last week's performance versus Auburn was more of a situation of the corners being largely untested because of Auburn's dominance in the run game, and hid what could very well be a season-defining Achilles' heel for this group.

On the first play of the game, Jennings threw a deep ball and Levar Thornton was in position after undercutting the throw, but the pass simply bounced off his hands and right into the lap of Romello Brinson for a 75-yard touchdown. That would be one of the two touchdowns Thornton would give up, the other being another first-play strike on SMU's first overtime offensive possession, where Thornton was beaten on another go-ball. There was also the coverage breakdown where Jalen Cooper was completely wide open for his 75-yard touchdown, and senior Tevin Williams got called for a back-breaking pass interference, and could have been called for another one later in the 4th. Something needs to change with this unit, and quick, or else the offense will consistently need to score 40+ to win games.

Safeties: A-

As bad as the cornerbacks were, the safety room made up for it, and then some. Arguably the biggest play of the day came from safety Jacob Redding, a former walk-on who broke out in a major way, posting five tackles and had solid positioning all afternoon in both deep and intermediate throws. The momentum-swinging interception he had in the back corner of the SMU end zone late in the third quarter, almost immediately after the controversial lost fumble on the ensuing punt return was another big play for the former walk-on. Without that play, it's a completely different ball game. Even more than just that play, Devyn Bobby and DJ Coleman flashed all game. Bobby finished second on the team with eight tackles and showcased some very impressive open-field tackling skills. Meanwhile, Coleman had a crucial pass breakup late in the game and generally was there to make up for some of the shortcomings of the corner room. Major, major performance by this group.